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    Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales
    Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales
    Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales
    Ebook40 pages28 minutes

    Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales

    By Hugh J O'Donnell

    ()

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    About this ebook

    There's a thin line between high adventure and crushing disappointment.

    Is your village menaced by magical beasts? Trapped on the wrong side of your own castle's defenses? Just have a potentially cursed ruin you need cleaned out? Call the Freelance Hunters. On the isolated, magic-filled island of Elanterra, they're fighting the good fight, if you've got the coin for it! If the Guilds won't help you and you can't turn to the guards, they can help! Join Joachim, a warrior looking for the ultimate fight, Bingo, an ex-thief just trying to keep his nose clean, and Glory, a Magician who's out for tenure on their exciting and occasionally profitable misadventures.
    Collects four "Freelance Hunters" short stories: "Glory's Gauntlet, "Blocked!" "The Least Unicorn," and "A Splash on the Big Bridge."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHugh J O'Donnell
    Release dateDec 18, 2013
    ISBN9780991316106
    Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales
    Author

    Hugh J O'Donnell

    Hugh is a writer and podcaster living in Western New York. His is the creator of The Freelance Hunters, a fantasy serial fiction series in the style of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar and Hajime Kanzaka's "The Slayers." He can be found online at hughjodonnell.com

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      Book preview

      Glory's Gauntlet and Other Tales - Hugh J O'Donnell

      Glory's Gauntlet

      and Other Tales

      Hugh J. O'Donnell

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © 2016 Hugh J. O'Donnell

      The Freelance Hunters logo by Alexander White

      Cover design by Hugh J. O'Donnell and Jeremy Monin

      Original image by Brian Snelson, provided under a Creative Commons license.

      All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 0991316118

      ISBN-13: 978-0-9913161-1-3

      A Hatching Phoenix Production

      Glory's Gauntlet originally appeared in audio as The Gauntlet on Every Photo Tells Episode #104, December 29, 2012.

      A Splash on the Big Bridge originally appeared in audio on Every Photo Tells Episode #132, October 8, 2013.

      The Least Unicorn originally appeared in print at hughjodonnell.wordpress.com on August 07,2013.

      Blocked! Originally appeared in print in Bards and Sages Quarterly April 2013.

      For Jeremy.

      #

      CHAPTER ONE

      Glory's Gauntlet

      Glory's Gauntlet

      The Freelance Hunters returned to the town of Kesselbridge on a wet and chilly afternoon. They came back sullen eyed and silent, and the cart they had rented ten days before was bare save for a single tiny strongbox. The residence saw them arrive, but made no comment. The nearest settlement to the well known ruin of Silver Stone Castle, they had seen many would-be treasure hunters come and go over the years, not realizing that 'well known' meant 'picked clean.' The town didn't see many of them come back, though. The vaults were empty, but many of the traps and wards protecting them still functioned.

      The trio went directly to one of the town's lodging houses, the Golden Hourglass, and immediately took their supper in the private dinning room. They were a gloomy assembly as they sat at their table, watching the sand spill in the timepiece above the hearth. Bingo, the cracksman of the group, sat playing with his food. Glory, the magician, ate methodically. They were Hillfolk; a small and clever people. Their companion, Joachim, was a Human of the Icy Mountains, who were barbarians by reputation. He sipped his beer but ate nothing. The hiss of falling sand filled the room.

      Well that was a waste, Bingo said at last. A full week of dirt diving for a box of coppers. He threw down his fork and glared at Glory. You said we'd have flash bennies from this one, Glory." The

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